


We Used to Wait

by SevenCorvus



Series: Avengers 50 Prompt Table [27]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, M/M, One Shot, Prompt Fic, Slash, Team, gen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-28
Updated: 2012-12-28
Packaged: 2017-11-22 17:32:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/612403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SevenCorvus/pseuds/SevenCorvus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha was not used to receiving personal communication. </p><p>Prompt: letters<br/>Characters: Steve Rogers/Avengers</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Used to Wait

**Author's Note:**

> Written as part of my NaNoWriMo project, and for the prompt "letters" on the [Avengers 50 Prompt Table](http://sevencorvus.livejournal.com/24907.html). Each of my prompt fills will be covering a different character combination and most can be read as gen or romantic, I leave it up to you to decide. I will be posting a fic a day for the rest of this month (at least). Feedback is love and will be rewarded with cookies (and smut).

Natasha was not used to receiving personal communication. It was not something her Russian handlers had ever done or allowed. S.H.I.E.L.D., like many agencies, ran on professional memos and emails. Any more personal communication was done on the phone or face to face. While she and Clint occasionally sent carefully coded messages to each other, they rarely put anything on paper, not wanting the risk of it being seen. She preferred to communicate with people in person, to watch their reactions, observe their behavior. So it was something of a surprise to start receiving hand written letters from Steve Rogers. 

The other Avengers had also received letters it turned out. The letters thanked them for their teamwork and ability during the fight with the Chitauri, asked how everyone was doing, and told them anecdotes of his trip so far. Each of them included a small sketch of the person they were for. It was not something any of them were prepared for.

The rest of the Avengers were not any more used to personal communication than the Black Widow. Clint had never had anyone else he would have wanted to keep in touch with besides Coulson, whom he saw regularly, and he had never been the type to leave love notes. The closest he had ever come to getting a letter, were the innocuous statements that Phil sometimes left on his debrief forms. Banner hadn’t had anyone he would have communicated with in such a way, and it would not have been safe for him to do so, being on the run. Stark mostly dealt with business communications through emails, anything more personal was limited to Rhodey or Pepper sending him a tersely worded text. Thor was not sure what to think of this whole letter business. (And Coulson would never admit to receiving one, the glee he felt on opening it, or the frame he had put it in before hiding it away.)

So for any of them to receive such a personal communication, especially something hand written, something someone had put time and effort and a personal touch, was touching somehow. It wasn’t that they had never expected to hear from the Captain again, they just hadn’t expected anything so personal, so intimate. Though maybe they should have.

Steve cared about people in general, but he did not get attached easily and when he did he communicated with them without artifice or formalities. These people had accepted him as their leader without question, and he wanted to know how they were, wanted them to know that he was thinking of them, that he remembered them, and that he would return, would not leave them hanging. 

Yes, he could have called or emailed using his new Stark phone, but he wanted to write to them, wanted to put his thoughts on paper. Maybe it was old fashioned of him, but one thing he had realized on his trip was that while he might still have a lot to learn about this time, a lot to adjust to, that did not mean he had to change who he was.

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from the song by Arcade Fire, which is my personal theme song for Steve. I definitely recommend you check out [The Wilderness Downtown](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYdJAi-BBrs) if you haven't already.


End file.
